1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a spoken-instruction controlled system for an automotive vehicle, and more specifically to a system for an automotive vehicle which can stop a device. for instance, such as a door window opening/closing device or a fender-mirror adjusting device which is being operated by a motor, in response to a driver's spoken instruction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, there is a well-known speech recognizer which can activate various actuators in response to human spoken instructions. When this speech recognizer is mounted on an automotive vehicle, the headlight, for instance, can be turned on or off in response to a driver's spoken instruction such as "Headlight on" or "Headlight off". The speech recognizer is very convenient because various spoken instructions can be recognized in order to control various actuators, without depressing switches; however, there are some problems involved in applying this system to an automotive vehicle. When this system is used for opening or closing vehicle door windows in response to a spoken instruction, since there inevitably exists a time delay of approximately 0.2 seconds from when a spoken instruction is inputted to the system to when the vehicle door window stops perfectly, it is practically impossible to stop the door window the instant the spoken instruction is inputted to the system. Accordingly, for instance, when the driver finds out a state where some passenger's fingers are pinched between a moving door window and a window frame and utters a spoken instruction such as "Stop window" in a hurry, a dangerous situation may occur in that the moving vehicle door window stops after having pinched the fingers more tightly.
A more detailed description of a typical speech recognizer and a prior-art spoken-instruction controlled system will be made with reference to the attached drawing in conjunction with the present invention under Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments.